Vintage Sports Car Club Winter Trial, Prescott Hill - 19/11/23
Words and Images by Mitcham Media
After the spring VSCC meet at Silverstone back in April our interest in Vintage cars had been caught, and as the motorsport season draws to a close for 2023 we jumped at the opportunity to get over to Prescott Hill Climb for the Cotswolds Novice Trial.
Blitzing our way through the cotswolds passing Burford, Bourton and onto some twisty back roads with the autumn leaves billowing behind the car on the way to our first experience of Prescott Hill Climb and Vintage Car Trials. The recent wet weather had left the car park a quagmire which pre-empted the state of the trials courses which laid ahead of the competitors.
Having never seen or experienced trials before it was bizarre to see hundred year old, pre-war cars on their skinny cross-ply tires being launched with seemingly little to no mechanical sympathy into the bogs sending mud flying through the air. The aim is for each competitor to make is as far through each challenging stage as possible with steep gradients, tight corners and deep mud to contend with. Along with the driver, each car contains at least one ‘Bouncer’ who when the car starts to bog down in the mud, will bounce up and down, left and right, or any direction possible to help find some traction to keep the car moving for as long as possible.
While modern motorsport is madness with hundreds of horsepower, big budgets and crazy speeds, the trials have proven that even with 11 horsepower and century old technology you and the spectators can have a laugh and some competition. Unlike most of the motorsport we’ve experienced, there seemed to be no formal paddock, no servicing and no tools being wielded which was a polar opposite and testament to how reliable these cars are.
The Novice Trial was a short half day at Prescott but has certainly wet out appetites to see far more trials events, and the good new is the 2024 calendar is looking good and busy.
Thank you to the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSVV) and Prescott Hill Climb for organising and hosting such a fun event. And thank you to all the competitors for brining out some seldom seen cars to cover them and us in mud. We look forward to seeing you on the next one.
